But Then Face to Face
by DawnCandace
Summary: Scotty is convinced that the mirror universe is a nightmare where all of his colleagues are savages until he meets one lieutenant. Some people are the same no matter what universe they are in. Scotty/Charlene Masters. Mirror! Universe


_I wrote this a few months back but neglected to add it is a companion piece to my Mirror! universe Spock/Uhura story Alternate Possibilities and it also fits into my Constellations Series right before Stawberries and Coffee Beans._

**But Then Face to Face****  
><strong>**  
><strong>_"For now we see in a mirror, darkly, but then face to face: now in part, but then I shall know even as also I have been known." 1 Corinthians 13:12_

Scotty walked stiffly down the halls of the ISS Enterprise, trying to adopt the confident swagger that he imagined his counterpart must possess. This ship was a nightmare and any show of weakness could be the death of him. His colleagues and friends were all brutes and savages. Spock was merciless, Chekov treacherous and Sulu a power-hungry fiend. However, it was his experience with his own Engineering staff that caused him the most distress. When he had entered the Engineering lab to conduct a few tests in order to ensure that he could reroute the power necessary for recreating the ion storm's effects, he encountered Lt. Saunderson and Lt. Riley running simulations on a new proton torpedo prototype created to cause maximum nuclear collateral damage after the primary blast. He barely kept his countenance as he listened to their gleeful report on the status of their testing.

The Naomi Saunderson that he had trained since her graduation from Starfleet was the gentlest creature he had ever set eyes upon, not this black-hearted villain who relished body counts. Scotty wondered again how depraved his counterpart must be and tried not to contemplate what sort of havoc he may be creating on his Enterprise. Scotty left the Engineering lab as soon as his own tests were completed. He was to meet Doctor McCoy in the reactor conduit on Deck 10 to effect the final adjustments needed to return home in three hours' time. While McCoy and the Captain seemed set on exploring the ship, Scotty headed for the relative safety of his quarters. He could not bear to see any more of his colleague's counterparts. He did not even allow himself to imagine what this universe's Charlene was like.

Scotty had befriended Lt. Charlene Masters over six months ago when her geophysics department began running experiments on spare dilithium crystals in the Engineering lab. He was technically her commanding officer along with Mr. Spock, geophysics being an adjunct department within Engineering and Science. While he thought the arrangement didn't make a lick of sense, he soon came to be thankful that he was thrown more often into the company of Ms. Masters. Charlene was a breath of fresh air on the Enterprise. She was one of the few people who would not get bored by his prattling about some obscure ship system or development with the warp engines. She'd smile up at him over the rim of her coffee mug and ask him intelligent questions, her eyes crinkling with mischief when he'd grow excited by her query and launch into a spirited answer. Scotty suspected she already knew the answers—Charlene had a good head for engineering. Sometimes she'd offer helpful suggestions to make the drives run more efficiently or help him untangle some conundrum involving the quantum relay system.

After the strange events involving Lazarus and their first encounter with an alternate universe, Charlene and Scotty had only grown closer. Scotty began to notice the woman underneath the gifted physicist and fellow gearhead. She was a beautiful woman—not in the overly-made up way of many women on the ship. Charlene was a natural beauty, keeping her makeup and jewelry to the bare minimum, her hair cropped close to her head in an efficient hairstyle. She was not afraid of getting a little grease under her nails or getting her uniform dusty by sliding underneath a console. Yet, even with her cheeks streaked with machine grease and her forehead slick with sweat after helping him make repairs, she was gorgeous.

Scotty wouldn't allow himself to contemplate never getting back to his own universe. Of all the things he'd regret leaving behind and undone, one of the most important things would be asking Ms. Masters out on a proper date.

Scotty came to the door of what would be his quarters on his own ship. Tentatively, he pressed his palm to the door sensor. He was gratified when the door slid open with a gentle hiss. He stepped into his quarters with a sigh of relief only to start at the sight of a woman curled up on his settee, a PADD dropped haphazardly on the deck before her.

"Scotty," Charlene sighed, a sleepy smile gracing her face as she sat up and stretched. "I tried to wait up for you, but you know how Gamma shift tuckers me out."

"Charlene..." Scotty replied, his voice tinged with surprise as she stood and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

Scotty hesitated before returning the kiss with vigor. He never held his Charlene so intimately. He never dared to, always fearful of upsetting the delicate balance of their friendship. Scotty had thought he was content to share her smiles and the occasional cup of scotch-laced coffee, but as his hands caressed warm silken skin and his tongue picked up traces of mocha, he wondered how he ever thought that was enough.

Charlene pulled back from the kiss, now fully awake. "Well, good morning Mr. Scott. I take it that the mission was a success?"

Scotty looked down at her trying to gather the shreds of his thoughts. The discovery that his counterpart was in a romantic relationship with Charlene rocked him, as did her kiss.

"Aye, lass, that depends on yer point of view. The Halkans refuse to trade. They are prepared to die rather than give the Empire what it wants."

Charlene dropped her arms from around his neck and sank onto the settee. "This is foolishness. The Halkans will be wiped out before the Resistance arrives. Millions of people will die because Tharn was unwilling to compromise."

Scotty looked up in surprise. So this Charlene wasn't as bloodthirsty as the rest of the crew seemed to be. Perhaps she could be a valuable ally.

"The Captain delayed the order to attack, lass. He's giving them 12 hours to reconsider."

"That murderous bastard did that? Wonders never cease," Charlene said as she shook her head. "But a lot of good that will do. We both know that Tharn won't change his mind. Our mole warned him of the Empire's intentions three days ago. They knew the resistance would support them but that they had to buy time."

Charlene stood abruptly from her seat and began to pace the room.

"What about the phaser banks? We could sabotage them. Make them think that the ion storm damaged them. That would buy us enough time."

"Sorry, lass," Scotty replied. "I tried. Mr. Sulu's men are guarding them."

"Damn, I guess they 'malfunctioned' one too many times," Charlene cursed. "Fuck Tharn and fuck his damn principles! What use are principles if they only get you killed? We have to live in the real world and the real world is not a peaceful place."

Scotty took her by the shoulders. "Come, love. You know you don't believe that. Some principles are worth dying for, lass."

Charlene snorted. "I never thought I'd hear Montgomery Scott say such a thing. When I met you all you cared about was self-preservation. Now here you are advocating martyrdom and righteousness."

"Aye. I guess a good woman could make any man noble."

They stared at each other in silence for several long moments. Despite the harshness of this universe and their precarious position, Scotty could not help but pause and admire the remarkable woman before him. She was like a glittering diamond amongst a heap of coal.

Charlene's gaze slowly drifted from his eyes to his mouth before she stepped towards him.

"Kiss me," she whispered as she slid her hands up his chest. "I don't want to think about the Halkians or death or anything. Just let me feel you."

Scotty felt himself bend towards her to comply before he paused, his lips inches from hers. This was not his Charlene. This was not his ship.

"Monty, please," she whimpered.

Scotty's eyes slid shut as his resolve broke. His mouth crashed down on hers as he pulled her against his body. He soon found himself lost in the softness of her hips; the scent of her hair and her whispered pleas for more. When he entered the warmth of her he forgot that he was not home.

Afterwards they lay in the low light of his quarters, her body draped over his, her head comfortably at rest on his broad chest. Scotty stared at the ceiling, the evaporating sheen of sweat chilling his body. The reality of what he had done settled in his gut, but he was too sated to regret enjoying this brief moment of happiness in this dark universe. Soon enough he would have to leave this bed to traverse the hostile corridors in a desperate attempt to return home. Scotty bent his head and pressed a kiss into the mint-scented curls of Charlene's head.

"Who are you?"

Scotty's breath caught in his throat at the simple question.

"What…what do you mean, lass?"

Charlene sat up, one hand pressed against his chest as she regarded him.

"You know what I mean. I believe that you are Montgomery Scott, but you are not my Monty."

"Why would you say that?"

Scotty held his breath as Charlene ran her hand down his chest to the juncture of his thigh and pelvis.

"My Monty has a nasty scar right here," Charlene whispered as she caressed the unblemished skin. "He took a blade in his side from Larry Riddle. The bastard tried to rape me, but my Monty came to the rescue. He sent the bastard to the agony booth for a good six hours before killing him."

Scotty swallowed thickly as she idly drew circles on his thigh.

"And my Monty wouldn't make love to me like I was made of glass. He knows I can take whatever he gives me and give as good as I take."

Scotty remained silent, caught in fear of her next words.

"Is there a Charlene Masters on your Enterprise?"

Scotty let out a long exhale as Charlene settled back against his chest.

"Aye, there is. She's a cracker-jack officer and just as beautiful to boot."

Scotty felt her smile against the skin of his chest.

"Is she your Charlene?"

"No, lass. Apparently your Montgomery is a good deal braver than me."

"But you'll change that when you get back? If that Charlene is anything like me, I am sure that she won't turn you away."

"Aye, if I get back I'll woo her, that's for certain."

Charlene sat up abruptly.

"How can I help?"

"I'll need to access the reactor conduits to recreate the effects of the ion storm," Scotty replied as he sat up. "I ran some experiments and I know it can be done if I reroute sufficient power through the reactor conduits on Deck 10 to the transporters. I figure that'll give us twenty minutes to beam back to our universe."

"Us?"

"The Captain, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Uhura."

"And when you beam back my Monty will return to this universe."

"Aye. At least we hope so. By all rights we shouldn't have been able to cross universes. Hopefully we won't end up beaming back into open space. But we gotta take the chance."

Charlene scrambled from the bed and began to dress.

"The reactor conduits on Deck 10 won't be able to reroute sufficient energy without blowing a few fuse coils in the main engineering room. That'll certainly tip off Sulu and his goons. You'll have to access the auxiliary warp drives through the main computer. We can access the computers from the auxiliary panel in Engine Room G. Sulu never monitors that room too closely. He could care less about my little experiments there."

Scotty smiled and began to gather his discarded clothing, hope blossoming anew in his chest.

"I'll have to make a few modifications to the drives," Charlene continued. "I can start on that now while you start on the necessary formula adjustments. If you give me a hand, we'll be done in an hour. Then all you'll have to do is trigger…"

"A recurring power fluctuation in the warp drive."

Charlene smiled. "You'll need help. I'll have to stay in Engine Room G to make sure there are no blowouts."

"Don't worry. I'll be able to get an extra pair of hands."

* * *

><p>Scotty breathed a sigh of relief when he materialized in the transporter room of his Enterprise. Lt. Kyle stood smiling behind the console next to a beardless Commander Spock. After filing a mandatory report about the incident and submitting to a check up in Sick Bay, Scotty made his way to Engineering. He wanted to be sure that there was no lasting damage from the ion storm or his crew's efforts to return his counterpart and his cohorts to their universe. When he entered the room, he was pleased to find his staff working normally. His face broke out in a wide smile when he spied Charlene Masters bending over a console, PADD and stylus in hand.<p>

"Lt. Commander Scott," she greeted him. "Welcome back."

"Aye, it's good to be home, lass."

"I'm happy you're back safe, Monty," she whispered as she placed a hand on his arm.

Scotty covered her hand with his as he smiled down at her.

"Charlene. I was wondering if you would be willing to have dinner with me this evening. Say, 2000 hours in my quarters?"

Charlene's smile grew. "I'd like that, Monty."

They stared at one another, both grinning stupidly, before Charlene slipped her hand from underneath his.

"Well, I should be getting back to my lab. I have to make sure Riley hasn't set the place on fire.

Scotty laughed. "Aye, you'd better go, then, lass."

"Until tonight, Monty," Charlene whispered before walking away.

Scotty nodded, his cheeks aflame as he watched her retreat.


End file.
